There is a jingle as the young couple exits the shop. He
reaches the “literature” section, passes by what he doesn’t want, Hustler, Genesis, Club, and the like—fluffy
crap and then rounds the aisle and finds what he is looking for: the vintage
stuff. Stalked, Captured, and Fettered. He waits for the familiar
flutter in his stomach, the tingle in his limbs, at the sight of the buxom
young women on the covers shackled, gagged, staring pleadingly out at the reader.
The colors are supersaturated, the lighting stark and procedural. The images
pop in a highly detailed way. His reaction to the covers has hardly waned over
the years. He gathers up a few issues he doesn’t already own and goes to the
register to pay.
While the clerk makes change of his fifty-dollar bill, his
hand goes into his pocket and his fingers slide around the smooth souvenir
there. It was white once, years ago, but has aged down from exposure to air and
his touch. He used to carry the piece every day, though now he
“Have a good night,” the clerk says, perhaps recognizing him
from his other visits, perhaps not. At some point he needs to stop coming to
places like this. There are cameras and it isn’t wise to continue. Of course,
he’s thought that for years and years and nothing has happened, nothing has
changed. The fact is: he’s invisible.
“Thank you,” he says to the clerk. He leaves the store and
heads for home.
~~~
Signature Kill
By David Levien
Stunning...
Suspenseful...
Satisfyingly Edgy...
Suspenseful...
Satisfyingly Edgy...
Graphic mutilation warning. Note that this, however, is not
a slasher-type horror story of murder after murder. Still, I thought it
advisable to move it to my adult blog so you could at least get some idea from
the excerpts of the book.
The serial killer is uniquely strange and comes from that
dark place that immediately taunts readers to wonder what brought about such a
monster, or was he merely born? Frank Behr, on the other hand, is a man who we
can trust will rid us of this killer, no matter what it takes… or will he be
caught, instead, by the horror he sees each time this creature strikes?
It’s happening again…
The words come from a place deep within him. He feels that
stuff down there, bubbling and stirring, as the thing inside him that is other looks to push up and outward. He has
to take it for a ride.
It’s happening again
and before long the red curtain will come down once more…Soon.…He turns the
corner onto East Lowell, and sees a lone woman walking. In her late twenties or
early thirties, she has blond hair streaked with light reddish brown the color
of ground cinnamon. She isn’t out for a healthful stroll, he can see by the
cigarette in her hand and the black leather jacket and jeans that look like
they were worn to a bar the night before.
Dirty girl, dirty girl…
He slows, trolling behind her for a bit. She is petite, with
a light stride. Young.
Go to work. Now. A
voice inside tries to instruct him. But it is weak. Certainly not strong enough
to win out, and it will soon fall mute.
He no longer feels the car around him. All is silent. He is
flying, floating along next to her. He is near her, with her, of her…
Finally, his Senses return. The steering wheel is in his
hands, the seat beneath him, and the pedals under his feet once again. He
speeds up and pulls abreast of her for just a moment before continuing on, her
presence and her location filed away automatically in his mind. A certain
fluttering sensation arrives in his gut—the one that comes along when he’s
found a new project.
Hello, Cinnamon…
~~~
 |
| Do You Know What Happened to Kendra Gibbons? Reward For Information Leading To Answers, Arrest, Conviction: $100,000. |
Frank Behr was out hunting with a friend while it was happening...She had been found in pieces and they weren't initially sure that all of her parts were there where she had been found...
Frank had shared with long-time friend, Les, that he did love Susan, his girlfriend, and the mother of his son, Trevor, but that didn't mean that they could live together. She had moved out, but they were still involved in Trevor's life and thus with each other...
Frank had been hurt and was still recovering, although he was running low on funds, especially if he ever wanted to ever offer to support Susan and Trevor. It wasn't surprising then, when he read the billboard and saw the woman's picture, that he began to think about what it could mean... even though his first reaction was to think that it was probably an impossible job...
He'd stopped to see Trevor and been invited for dinner...and more...but had gotten up to leave even though he wasn't working any case... And the first thing he did at home was head for his computer to type in the name, Kendra Gibbons, Indianapolis. He wasn't sure why; he knew that he'd have to put out his own money which might be totally lost if he didn't find the girl. Still...
If he wasn't actually invisible, he was someone who never really was noticed--a face in the crowd that people routinely passed. That really helped in his projects because he enjoyed the hunting and stalking of each one chosen. Right now, he had gone back to where he'd first seen Cinnamon; he was supposed to be on his way to work, but he had started to feel the bubbles churning inside. He knew it was the beginning...he knew and even referred to it as "The Other."
 |
| I'll never die. The idea flashes in his mind. No one who experiences this ever can. A Power surges through him like high-voltage electricity. He's spent the special time with Cinnamon, three hours' worth, right after her end. There is something magical in the silence, in the utter void of her being... ~~~ |
He rolls along the streets, feeling it start to bubble down there inside of him, the thermal geyser. The thin crust that keeps things in place breaks away inside of him under the force of the building pressure, and the hot lava starts sliding around. Other is up and about. He feels his breath coming shallow. An hour passes, and then another.
Where are you, Cinnamon, where are you?
Eventually he points the car back toward his office, but he knows it isn't going to let him rest now. He knows it because he's felt it like this before. He knows where it will end up. Once the bubbling starts, it's just a question of where he points it, because it is going to blow...
~~~
Behr was essentially starting from the beginning with his own investigation, even though some were not pleased to be dragged into the search again. And then a body was found and he immediately began to consider that it was probably the same killer...
But then he got lucky, sort of... He had tracked down files that had earlier been pulled together about murders like the one that had just happened, realized that there were many with similarities, and soon was working with a forensics specialist so experienced that she was able to reduce the stack--to twenty-four. The factor that allowed that was that all twenty-four were true blonds...the others were eliminated due to diaminotoluene in the chemical reports that showed their hair had been dyed. She was the one to define this serial killer as a "signature killer"
...we use the term signature because even though the MO can change from crime to crime, due to the specific and random circumstances of each act, the key element of the crime that gives the killer the satisfaction is the same even when the little details present slightly differently...And the way the bodies are being found, the dismemberment? Behr asked. "Even though they're different every time--" "Right. The presentation changes, but not the fact that there is a presentation...
Obviously, Behr is pulled into a major investigation and fortunately makes a connection with the lead investigator who is willing to include him...Because it's going to take everybody...to catch this invisible man...
There's a definite line for me--I'm not interested in seeing the actual gore of slasher movies, but I do become very intrigued with unusual cases--the why, the search, the investigation that leads to the capture of someone who apparently leads a normal life until "the other" takes over. By the time Behr has gone through all that he has, well, he has seen so much...
What he does, in my opinion, was perfect, surprising and totally unexpected!
Thriller readers, get set for this one. Although it does get graphic at times, the internal thoughts and actions are what is really spine-chilling. Keep track of Behr as he moves through everything, knowing that there is no stopping the man until he personally faces this killer... Extraordinary villain; Exceptional Male Lead! Don't miss this one!
GABixlerReviews
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David Levien is the author of the Frank Behr novels: Thirteen Million Dollar Pop, Where the Dead Lay, and City of the Sun. He has been nominated for the Edgar, Hammett, and Shamus Awards, and is also a screenwriter and director. He lives in Connecticut.
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